Winter Stamping

...made in the middle of the previous summer. Very consequent of me, I know, I know :) I still like how it turned out, because I used one of my ever-favourite stamping patterns. 

But firstly a couple of words about the base colour. I have to utter it: this is one of the worst polishes in my stash - 17 Toasted Almond. It just managed to be baaad in everything: texture, application, drying time *crazy face* Well, I am not to blame - I got it as an extra in some swap.

As you see, it's a beige shimmer shade with an ugly frosty finish. I don't think it's possible to apply it without the strikes, although they are not so obvious in real life. It takes 2 to 3 coats to cover the VNL, and it doesn't dry any quickly. Sad story - to be brief. Don't buy it. Just don't. Ever. 

What do we do with uglyish polishes? Right, we just put some layering top or stamp over them. I did the latter, and surprisingly I was happy with the result! The plate I used was BM-314, and the stamping polish was Konad Black.

Not so bad in the end, right? ;)

Golden Nude

It's harsh winter around here and I really didn't have any wish to repaint my nails, because any colour would look crippled on bright red fingers - which I had because of the frost. Finally the temperature became human friendly again, and I realised that I want nude nails, so I painted them with Yes Love #629, a nice beige shade. But after 2 days I got bored a bit, and decided to make the nude festive - with Milani Gold. 

Milani Gold is a gold glitter in the shape of hexagons in a clear base. The glitter particles are quite large and the DO stand out on the nails, even if painted over a nude. I wouldn't say that it was easy to spread the goldinis over the nails, but my bottle is pretty old, and the polish might have dried up a bit.

I was wearing this combination on the weekend, so I didn't really care if it was too much for work. Even though we don't have nails dress code, lol.

Just for you to see the other combinations with Milani Gold - here are the swatches over dark blue, turquoise, and gold (!). I hope you enjoyed it! :)

Don't Pretzel My Buttons!

I swore many times that I'm never gonna buy any polish from OPI Germany collection for 2 reasons. First, the colours are anything but attractive to me, neither they represent Germany as a country in my opinion. Second, the names sound endlessly stupid, although OPI traditionally has been doing a nice language play in their country-centered collections. In spite of all that, when I picked a bottle of Don't Pretzel My Buttons in the store, I thought it could be a nice mannequin nude. And when I scored a deal of 1,90€ with shipping for a mini-bottle on the auction-website-we-all-know .. you know.. :) Never say never. 

What I got on my nails is a quite interesting effect of "no nails". At some point it was weird to look at my nails and "not seeing" them :) Fortunately, there was no conflict between the shade of the polish and my skin tone, they just mimicrated one into another.. Otherwise Don't Pretzel My Buttons is a light beige creme, not so easy to apply (2 thin coats) but still no major problems encountered. 

And, as in case of some other polishes of the OPI German Collection, the colour has not much in common with the things it tends to depict - if at all. The real colour of Brezel is rather sienna, as you see on the pics below. The shade of Don't Pretzel My Buttons is rather the one of the raw dough. 

And since I live in Germany I'm literally surrounded by props suitable for making photos with. Meet the real Brezel : )

Pasha

Moin, today I'm showing something special. Special for me, because I normally don't wear such colours. But as I was looking at the swatches of Zoya Pasha on the web, I was thinking how nice it looks, and then Pasha went to my wish list. I never really hoped to get it, but Carolina was so kind to send it to me in a swap : ) For a long time I didn't have courage to try it, but I couldn't just keep watching at it forever, so here are the swatches:

Pasha is a coffee-with-milk cool-shaded polish with a silver shimmer (frost, if you want), and I just cannot describe it any other way.. Somewhere between beige and taupe?

The main stress should be made on the words "cool-shaded". Exactly because of that it doesn't create 'lobster hands' effect on me, but if you have warm skin tone, you won't have to worry at all : ) I did worry. In vain, as it turned out.

For Pasha to look nice on your nails they have to be without ridges - this polish tends to highlight them. Secondly, you will need a top coat in order to smooth the shimmer streaks. On the photos there are barely any - that's only because of the top coat. Otherwise, the application is typical Zoya - smooth and nice, 2 fast drying coats. 

Otherwise, Zoya Pasha was the only case when my bf, being asked if he likes it on my nails, said explicitly: "No". Maybe it was weird for him to see such a colour on me, don't know. Me, on the contrary.. I liked Pasha more than I expected : ) Do you?

Seventeen

Not so many pictures today, neither words, although the polish I'm showing, Seventeen #271, is one of my favourite "calm shades". 

Seventeen #271 is a dusty beige with a drop of lilac in it, the texture is light semi-jelly. It was my first experience with this Greek brand - [it's where I am at the very moment actually :)] - and I should say I'm very pleased with formula and application - 2 easy coats. And Seventeen has a great colour pallette, so if you occasionally have access to Seventeen polishes - check them, they are worth it :)

Note: I saw many people writing in their reviews that Seventeen polishes smell very strongly, almost unbearably. In my case, I didn't feel anything special, just an average polish smell, but maybe it's because I was polishing my nails in front of an open window. 

Chirp Chirp

Little chirp chirps are not here yet, but at list I can show you the polish - Essence Chirp, Chirp! from Naturventurista LE. I honestly don't know what it has to do with the birds, but oh well, we have seen so many other random names. 

The case with this polish was - I'm sure - familiar to many of you: I was passing by it hundred times in the shops, until I accidentially saw beautiful swatches of it in Antallex's blog. After that I couldn't resist : ) To my luck, it was also discounted: 

The colour is hard to describe: light beige with a touch of green and subtle pink (!) shimmer. A more precise description from my bf: "a colour of US airplanes which are designed for battles in the desert". I doubt they had pink shimmer though : ) 

The formula was okay, demanding a bit of attention but nothing extra difficult. On the pics you see 3 coats which dried pretty fast.

Here here here! I caught the mysterious shimmer!!! : )

As I was reluctant to stamp over this winner shade, I just made an accent finger with konad, rhinestones and a dotter:

 

Interesting shade, don't you find?

Going Festive: Nude Glitter

Could you think of anything like that - nude glitter? I wouldn't, until I just got it as a surprise with one package : ) Let me show you Finger Paints Winter Wishes, the first polish of this brand that I'm posting (more to follow :). 

Okay, let's be realistic, it's rather champagne or beige than nude, but believe me, it looks super modest on the nails! I totally like the view it makes. Nothing to say about formula - pure perfection, 2 coats and fast drying.

And here are some of my attempts to layer something sparkly-shiny over it: 

From above: 

1- China Glaze Party Hearty

2 - Essence Make It Gold

3 - [b] Basic Sol Brillante

Well, that was it for today : ) Hope you are having nice holiday time!

*This is a planned post and while you are reading it I'm having fun with my friends in Belgrade. I will answer to all the comments as soon as I'm back! Greetings i pozdravi! : )